Good Lake for Larger pike?

Post by **Fishing Freak** » Wed Aug 18, 2004 5:17 pm

Where can a man get into some good size (7+lbs) Pike on a regular bases?

I'm not talking a 10 hour drive, 1 to 2 hours would be Ok though.

Any suggestion s would be much appreciated.

Thanks
Dave

Post by **Canadian Bacon** » Wed Aug 18, 2004 5:19 pm

Cracker got one at Otter Lake between Smiths Falls and Kingston...Don't know if that is normal there but.....

Post by **FLOATFISHIN** » Wed Aug 18, 2004 5:39 pm

Hey FF,like any other body of water you have to look for em and Im sure the ST.L will hold em but for good action the Ottawa has some decent numbers and size if you can get on top of em.But for consistent 7plus northerns if you do find out can you let me know

T.L F.F

Post by **ganman** » Wed Aug 18, 2004 5:40 pm

I tried Charleston this spring exclusively for pike and I did pretty good but I live closer to the St Lawrence which is tough to beat for pike and so I fish there the most.

But I have been doing alot of bass fishing this summer on Charleston and every trip it seems I get a real nice pike. I know I'd get alot more if I targeted them. Compared to what I find on the Rideau those Charleston pike are larger and deeper bodied.

It's a big lake with lots of cool water and goodies like herring, cisco's and the odd trout that big pike like.

Post by **SkeeterJohn** » Wed Aug 18, 2004 5:56 pm

Most of the pike i've been getting in the past few weeks on the st. lawrence have been in the 29-34" category and the one i remember weighing was 5lbs something. Not a monster but they're there but the numbers don't seem to be huge. When i was out there with topwater he said he saw one of the largest pike he's seen in a long time... he only saw it once though and didn't get it hooked.

My guess is there are large fish out there but finding them in suficcient numbers is probably going to be a problem.. I remember back in england hearing a few guys going out and catching near 20lbers on a regular basis in the lake district national park. Mind you at the time i had very little interest in pike so didn't take advantage of it.

The best pike i heard of coming from the area i used to live in was about 30lbs and that lived in a lake that had a trout farm on it. That'll bring me onto my next point...

We've discussed before on here why certain waters seem to produce larger fish. I think it was ccb who mentioned that there was a relationship between the types of baitfish and quality fish. Perhaps this is why the muskie get so big on the ottawa with baitfish species that personally i know very little about.

I've yet to really hear of many huge pike coming out around here which is why i think most tend to fish for muskie... I know that's one of my main reasons for fishing for them. Let's face it a 40" muskie is probably going to be easier than a 40" pike.

Post by **Fishing Freak** » Wed Aug 18, 2004 5:59 pm

Thanks for the info guys.

I use to target pike when I was younger, but it's been a long time since I targeted them. The old fish spots are no longer producing, so I thought I'd give it another shot this weekend, Just didn't know which Waterbody to start on.

I think I'll give Charleston A shot as I have been getting lucky with the Lakers there.

Thanks again

Post by **ganman** » Sat Aug 21, 2004 12:49 am

Pike in Europe do grow larger. Almost every European countries record pike is larger than here. Forget about the recorded world record pike. I believe its still a 47 pounder from NY state. Pike in the 70 lbs range have been caught and photographed in Europe. I believe the British record is 50 plus pounds.

Cooler, wetter summers and milder winters (no winter kill) in Europe mean temperatures are more suited. It also means pike can be found anywhere. In dredged canals and shallow ditches that freeze solid here. There are medieval accounts of huge frightful pike that resided in castle moats.

Shallow connected waterways mean they have a habit of showing up in places they are not wanted; like trout farms and famous Hampshire trout streams. When found gobbling expensive trout they are shot, speared, snagged etc..

Our waters are full of spiny rayed fish (panfish, bass, walleye etc). It's thought pike do poorly with this type of prey fish.

European waters are full of large minnow type, soft finned fish (roach, bream, tench, carp etc.). I believe the European perch is soft finned too. Pike are said to do alot better with this type of baitfish.

European pike are scavengers. That is well known. An Irish friend told me firsthand of finding a very large dead brown trout in a ditch off an Irish lough. They left to get something to hoist the trout from the water. Returning, they saw a 4 foot long pike eating the trout.

Post by **Jigs** » Sat Aug 21, 2004 8:18 am

John:

A section of the Rideau River near where I live used to hold BIG pike.

It also used to hold huge schools of golden shiner minnows. The predation on pike was always there, but they held up well since they had good water and an abundance of prey.

THEN, the MNR or some other god awful govt. agency gave a licence to a bait supplier to net this section. And they did. Very well.

Over a 5 year period they cleaned this stretch out. NO golden shiner minnows.

The perch are now almost non existant, since the pike and bass etc now use them as their most abundant prey species.

The rock bass and sunfish are still there in good numbers, but not in the sizes they were.............predation??

I guess my point is that to have big pike you need an ABUNDANCE of prey species; and perhaps the idiots that hand out netting licenses should maybe be given a course...............minnows 101, or whatever.

The last time this fool came to net this reach, he wound up with about a 2 gal. pail of minnows. He said "gees, they aint here like they was". Haven't seen him since. Good riddance.

Anyone who knows of a good body of water which contains a great supply of minnows wants to be extremely vocal in their protestations if the "bait suppliers" show up. I was, but was called a fool by many; but these same people no longer fish these waters............

........wonder why??

Pretty good rant.............its over.

Jigs.

Post by **Rico** » Sat Aug 21, 2004 9:44 am

Thats when you (Snip Snip )

Post by **ganman** » Sat Aug 21, 2004 10:33 am

I'm not sure if one bait guy is solely responsible for decimating golden shiners in that section of the rideau.

The rideau is a very fertile body of water, with acres of weedbeds that a bait harvester would have difficulty with.

Might be something else, environmental perhaps. Are there zebra mussels?

As I said catching bait with the methods restricted to harvesters is very difficult. There are no nets to snip BTW.

Post by **Jigs** » Sat Aug 21, 2004 12:39 pm

Ganman:

Ordinarily I would agree with you, but in this case, I'm talking about a stretch of water about a mile or so long. Very small body of water, not too deep (one deep hole 14ft. extends about 25 ft. rest is from 0 to 8 ft.........that would be the channel). Good weed cover.

Used to be able to go down in the evening and see schools of shiners about 100 ft. in diameter (not exagerating), and there would be several of these..................not any more.

Its true that the zebras have clarified the water a tad, but that is a recent phenonomen. I'm talking 10-20 years ago.

So, before baiter..........lots. After baiter.........damn few. He was a master baiter for sure.

Best regards: Jigs.